Nakamoto, who is a Japanese-American physicist, and an Associated Press reporter were followed by reporters and photographers to a sushi restaurant and to the AP bureau, where Nakamoto gave the new agency and exclusive interview in which he strongly disputed Newsweek’s claims that he created Bitcoin.

We think #Nakamoto might be heading toward downtown LA. Great American #Bitcoin Chase

The Newsweek feature is the result of a two-month investigation by reporter Leah McGrath Goodman.

In her story, McGrath Goodman said after extensive online digging that included interviews with Nakamoto’s family members and Bitcoin developers, she was able to track him down at his California home.

She describes a short encounter with Nakamoto, where he “tacitly” acknowledges his role in the Bitcoin project but says he no longer has any connection with it.

“‘I am no longer involved in that and I cannot discuss it,’ he says, dismissing all further queries with a swat of his left hand,” McGrath Goodman writes.

Created in 2009, Bitcoin is an encrypted virtual currency free from financial institution backing and traded online. The virtual currency’s popularity had been on the rise since its creation in 2009, however, growing controversy over its vulnerability to fraud and hacking has seen the currency’s value plummet in recent months.